Cystic fibrosis fundraiser in Kootingal tallies $14,000

The tally is in from the Kootingal Moonbi Roosters Football Club Charity Day on Saturday, which included an auction and raffles for Cystic Fibrosis Community Care.

Joanne Jones, who organised the fundraiser with husband Lad, said she thought it had been backed so strongly because there were many local families affected by the disease.

Their seven-month-old son Jesse has the condition, which causes thick, sticky mucus in the lungs, leading to irreversible lung damage and, eventually, failure.

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“We weren’t the only cystic fibrosis family … at the auction; there were quite a few families that all had a connection with it: a sibling, a niece or nephew, a daughter or a son,” she said.

“There’s more people around with it than you’re actually aware of … a lot of local families.”

The annual fundraiser coincided with Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month and the Roosters’ home-game clash with Dungowan Cowboys.

The auction at Kootingal Hotel in the evening featured 41 red jerseys with the Cystic Fibrosis Australia logo, worn by the ladies’ league tag and men’s league teams during play.

Check out a gallery of photos from the game here

The top-selling jersey went for $700.

One visiting ex-Kootingal and now Sydney resident even rallied her friends and family together to buy eight jerseys for a total of almost $3000.

“We were hoping we’d reach $10,000 like we did [for Tamworth Hospital children’s ward] last year – it didn’t matter if we didn’t, but the jerseys alone raised that more than that,” Mrs Jones said.

“It’s just so overwhelming.”

Mrs Jones said she wanted to thank everyone for their support, particularly Robert Sharp from Orthopaedics New England, who paid for the jerseys that were to be auctioned off.

“The cystic fibrosis communities and families affected by it will benefit from their generosity,” she said.